Argos of Leadership and Management - Essay Example

? Argos of Leadership and Management Contents Organization introduction 4 2.Monitor the environment 5 3.Analysis of Argos 6 3.1PEST Analysis 7 3.2SWOT Analysis 8 3.3Porters Five force 9 3.4Core competencies 10 3.5Ratio Analysis 11 4Complexity of environment 12 5.Key business challenges 13 6.Critical discussion on leadership of Argos 13 6.1McKinseys 7’S’ 16 6.2Burke Litwin model of organizational change 18 7.Conclusion 20 8.Recommendation 21 Reference 23 1. Organization introduction Argos is the leading multichannel retailer in UK and provides a highly successful and unique offering with respect to value choice and convenience. Argos is a part of Home Retail Group which is the market leader in general and home merchandise. Argos is a fully owned subsidiary of Home Retail Group, UK. Argos sells general merchandise and products for household consumption from about 700 stores in UK, online and also through telephone. In the previous financial year, sale of Argos amounted to ?4.3billion and had also employed about 33,000 people across the business (Argos, 2011). Multichannel sales have grown in recent years and represents about ?1.9bn or about 46% of the total sales of Argos. Sales through internet represented about 36% of sales and the remaining 10% through in store sale or by telephone. Argos is the second largest internet retailer operating in UK comprising of about 400 m websites visit during a year (Argos-a, 2011). Argos has adopted the differentiation strategy of Porters generic strategy as the stores of Argos act as a key component of the multichannel model which provides convenient pick up points for its customers. Also with latest technology like ‘voice put away’ which enables the stores to chose the location of the stocks and thus maximize the utilization of space available from stockroom, the multichannel retailer aims to create a competitive advantage (Argos-b, 2011, p.14). Argos faces a stiff competition from Amazon, internet retailer and has been suffering from consumer downturn and also the likes and demands for Amazon and other competitors. As compared to price, Amazon products was rated cheaper than Argos and in an online survey it was revealed that electrical of Argos was ranked 20 with customer score of 62% as compared with Amazon of 88% (The Guardian, 2012). 2. Monitor the environment Organization tends to monitor the environment by many different ways as per the convenience and requirement by the company. Most of the organization conducts market research to analyze the environment and to know the strategies that its competitors have adopted to overcome the challenges in the competitive environment. Some does it through scenario planning, benchmarking and also through industrial publications. Argos multichannel retailers use the method of benchmarking in order to monitor the environment. Scenario planning has also formed an important part of Argos while dealing with the environment. Benchmarking is an important tool as it helps organisation to gather information about its competitors and the globe, highlights the area which are in need of improvement and set performance standards (Evans, Walters & Palmer, 2002, p. 19). According to Sara Weller the Managing Director of Argos have commented that Argos has set benchmark for the model of multichannel retail and because of its strategy the multichannel retail stores has been doing well than its competitors. The retail giant continues to focus on the customers and delivery as per their requirements. The firm has benchmarked profit before tax to about 60% less at about ?102million (News Reach, 2012). With respect to scenario planning, Argos has realised that the role of physical stores are changing and thus it needs to incorporate to the change in order to stay competitive. The mostly likely scenario is that retail stores will serve two purposes, as showroom and secondly as convenient transaction point. Thus Argos plans to segment their related estates. Some of the flagship stores would focus on the function of the showrooms and majority of it will be operated through smaller outlets (PWC, 2012, p. 14). Argos with the help of Transform who were engaged to define a forward multi channel strategy for the future taking into consideration the current customer model with expansion as well as innovation (Transform, 2012). 3. Analysis of Argos Argos is a multichannel retail outlet based in UK and has been ranked among the top multichannel retailers in UK. Currently the organisation holds second position in the online retail sector. The organisation will be further analysed with the help of certain tools and method to determine the internal as well as external environment. PEST analysis is a useful tool used to scan the environment and detect and monitor the weak signals which could have an impact in shaping the environment. PEST refers to factors consisting of political, economical, social and technological factors. It tends to provide a link between the competitive and the general environment (Henry, 2008, p. 51). SWOT analysis is a tool which is used in analysing certain situations. SWOT stands for strength, weakness opportunity and threat. Therefore the framework of SWOT helps to analyse the internal factors of the organisation, the strength and weakness along with the external factors, opportunity and threats and thereby focusing on the strengths, minimising the weakness and to take advantage of the opportunities available to the organisation (Pahl & Richter, 2009, p. 4). Both PEST and SWOT will help to analysis Argos external and internal environment and take advantage of the opportunity. Porters five force is used to analyse the industry as well as the business strategy adopted by the firm. It draws on five forces which determine the intensity as well as attractiveness of the market. Therefore each of the tools are taken into consideration and the industry as well as the organisation are analysed so that it can overcome its weakness and threats and achieve a competitive advantage. 3.1 PEST Analysis Political Factors: The political factors of UK can be said to be in stable condition and is encouraging the multichannel retail stores to set up more number of outlets for the convenience of the people of UK. The UK government has allowed FDI for the organisation so that the multichannel retail can expand into emerging and growing countries. Apart from it, the government intends to change the traditional way of broadcast signal to digital by end of 2012 where everyone will be able to receive digital television, free view through the same aerials used before (Pace, 2012). Economical Factors: Economic factors remained to be challenging affecting the consumer and their spending power. Given the current economic condition, retailers need to focus and invest on priorities and ensure returns which are acceptable. With a high unemployment rate, wage growth remains to be minimal and higher taxes as the economy continues to recovery affecting the consumers as a whole (Retail Think Tank, 2012). Social Factors: With an increase in the price, consumers feel the squeeze financially. With growing financial rises and increase in the price of retail products, consumers have slowed down their purchasing and spending habits and increasingly aim to save much more as compared to previous years. Apart from the spending habits consumers are likely to switch over to online retail as indicated that store fall is likely to decrease by 3% in the years to come. Also with the expansion of good by the multichannel retails can be seen as an opportunity to buy products online (Experian, 2011, p. 9). Technological Factors: Retail has changed over the years, and is a part of technology driven which has radically changed the way of purchasing the products or services in the future. The ability to shop anywhere at any point of time and with any device the demand for online retail and advanced technology has helped retailers to keep up with every challenging situations. With respect to technology, Argos have developed mobile channels and successful internet to meet up with the demands of the customers and continues to develop an integrated shopping experience through latest technology and with ways in which customers would interact and also shop (Home Retail Group Plc, 2011). 3.2 SWOT Analysis Strength: Argos is a multichannel retail and analysing the trend of the multichannel retail outlet, it can be said that the sector itself can act as a major strength for the organisation. With online retail, which adds on to the strength Argos integrated multichannel capability is the core factor in the success of the firm. Argos has been ranked as the second most online multichannel retail with about 400 million visits and continues to market leadership in the multichannel retailing. It sales grew to 1.9bn almost half of its total sales (Home Retail Group Plc, 2011). Weakness: Argos weakness lies on it’s over dependence on the UK market as a shift in the demand would highly affect the multichannel retail, Argos. Another weakness for Argos is the size when compared to its competitors such as Amazon and other multi channel retail. Also the inability for the consumers to see products in store and is common in case of high risk of goods such as black goods. In addition, low advertising of Argos both offline and online adds on to the list of weakness. Opportunity: A huge opportunity for Argo lies in the online sector and adopting new technology will help the organisation to overcome its weakness and threats and acquire the top position in the online sector. The growth in e-commerce and UK being the country with one of the most developed online retail markets, Argos stand strong and has a huge opportunity in the field of online retailing. Also online shoppers comprises of all kinds of consumers, especially the middle level income families who uses the net in order to buy products ranging from weekly to grocery, to impulse purchase and also to latest fashion (Experian, 2011). Multichannel retail has reached its maturity stage and thus has changed the landscape of online retail providing opportunity for organisation to take advantage and succeed. Threat: A major threat comes from the supermarket such as TESCO and other entering the online market giving less space for the multi channel to grow and expand. Also with economic crises which has made the consumers concerned, spends less as compared to previous years, emerging as a threat for the multichannel retail outlet. With increase in competition both the sectors of online marketing and mortar by brick; threat comes from the competitors who have already marked its presence in the online sector such as Amazon. 3.3 Porters Five force Bargaining power of customers: Customers tends to have a high rate of bargaining power as there are various number of multi channel retailers available to them. Also with a rise in online shopping, customers prefers sites where the rates are less and with a strong brand name. Amazon products was rated cheaper than Argos and in an online survey it was revealed that electrical of Argos was ranked 20 with customer score of 62% as compared with Amazon of 88% (The Guardian, 2012). Bargaining power of suppliers: The bargaining power of suppliers is low as suppliers which did not meet the standards of the product were dropped out. Thus supplier’s relationship with big retailers can either break or make small retailers. Threat of substitute: Threat of substitute is quite high as with the availability of supermarkets and other retail outlets which are convenient for customers and also with the rise in online shopping, the threat tends to get high; almost every product are purchased on online basis thus making substitution rate high for multi channel retail stores. But at the same time it was revealed according to a survey that the multichannel is the future of the retail industry. Therefore the threat of substitute can be said to be moderate to high. Threat of new entrant: Multichannel retail usually involves high capital to set up and also the switching cost is relatively high. But multichannel retail can also be operated through online bearing a minimal cost. In addition, brand awareness also plays an important factor for an organisation to succeed and a new entrant will take some time to build on the brand image and capture the market share. Thus threat of new entrant can be ranged between high to moderate. Threat of rivalry: Threat of rivalry is high as with the presence of many online stores, consumers get the option to choose from the various alternatives available to them. Some of the competitors of Argos include Amazon in the online sector and little wood index along with other supermarkets trying to enter the multichannel retail sector. 3.4 Core competencies Argos is the market leader in the non food sector in UK market and its core competencies include successful operation of the multi channel retail network. Argos experience of operating the catalogue showroom appears to be the main source of its competitive advantage and ensuring its position in the market. Organisational competencies of Argos can be further divided into four factors, Strategic, where Argos has been able to stay ahead with its top competitors Littlewoods Index Functional, marketing campaigns conducted by the organisation seems to be successful in terms of customer recall rates which accounted to 75% and policy of “never out of stock “accounted to about 20% of sales. In addition money back guarantee for customers within 16 hours of purchase also added to its core competency. Operational, where Argos introduced the multichannel strategy and its experience of operating in the market adds on to its core competency along with its location and distribution network provide access to the customer base. Corporate level, Argos has introduced innovation as a part of its strategy. Argos was the first chain to launch satellite television channel and also became the first company in the world to introduce “Text and Take home” along with reservation service (Ranchhod & Marandi, 2006, p.102). 3.5 Ratio Analysis Analysing the balance sheet along with the income statement, it has been founded that revenue of Home Retail Group Plc fell from 5.85bn to 5.58bn a decrease of 4.60%. In addition, an increase in selling and administrative cost had contributed in the reduction of net income from 190.90m to about 72.80bn a decrease of about 61.86%. Dividends per share and earnings per share have also dropped to 68.03% and 60.53% respectively. The organisation has cash reserve of about 35.00m in 2012 and has earned 207.70m from its operation for a margin of about 3.72%. The company’s debt amounted to 0.20% in its capital structure (The Financial Times Ltd, 2012). 4 Complexity of environment With changing environment and introduction of more advanced technology, organisations are facing a tough challenge with the issue of sustainability. Argos has been able to reduce the impact on the environment. About 91% of waste derived from the business is recycled, 25% reduction in packaging from its own brand and also from direct sourced product. In order to tackle the issue of waste management, Argos have focused on the following few issues such as separating waste at stores and at distribution centres; reduce the amount used in packaging of product; introduced reusable packaging; offer recycling service to customers; offering customers carrier bags only when they need it and encouraging customer to recycle the products. Argos has signed up with home improvement packaging, WRAP which targets reduction of about 155 in retail packaging. Argos has been able to achieve 25% reduction till date. Use of paper has also reduced from 114000 tonnes in 2010/11 to 106000 tonnes in the current year. Argos has also worked to have lesser impact on the climate. Argos has set up challenging targets with respect to vehicle fuel efficiency and energy consumption. Priority is to reduce carbon dioxide and is committed to reduce carbon foot prints by about 405 by 2020 (Home Retail Group-a, 2012). Therefore it can be concluded that Argos has taken care of the sustainability issue and like good corporate have taken the issue of sustainability seriously and has acted upon it producing effective results. 5. Key business challenges Consumers have the option to purchase online through catalogs and also through traditional bricks and mortar stores. The multichannel retail landscape tends to face with new challenges as the retailers struggle to harness the demand and plan the merchandise accordingly. Argos which is general merchandise in UK faces challenges of being a multi channel retailers. Argos with more than 750 stores, catalogue being in about 70% of UK homes, the multichannel retailers provides the customers with various options and has about 17000 products. Argos supply chain was very innovative but retailers need to alter the supply chain in order to stay ahead in the industry. The executives of Argos knew that solution was needed in order to help the organisation manage better and forecast and plan in order to keep the cost down and at the same time ensure that products are made available when needed by the customers (The Supply Chain Result Company, 2008). In addition to the challenge of supply chain other challenges faced by the organisation includes consistent product offer where limited offerings in terms of price, range, promotion and also availability might hamper the image of the retail outlet; end to end support through system, lack of which can cause damage to the inventory and the order management; lack of single view of the customers due to scattered customer base; functional and operational silos and finally implementing the cultural shift and to measure as well as incentives the traditional channels (Deloitte, 2009). 6. Critical discussion on leadership of Argos Leadership has been one of the major areas which interest the organisation along with social scientist. Leadership is viewed as an important factor which is involved in everyday and organisational affairs. Leadership may be defined as a process or an act of influencing the activities of organised groups towards achieving the goals of the organisation (Parry & Bryman, n.d). Since years retailers tend to fend off the competition as they relied on the traditional means of barrier to entry as high cost of capital which was required to build retail outlets. However most of the retailers even today are focused on putting their stores in the right location, right product at the right place and staffing the outlets with people with sufficient knowledge about moving the products off the stores to satisfying the customers. Long term business success seems to be much more complex. With the help of new technologies, it allows companies to compete with the demands of the customers in different channels and venues such as through the internet, mobile and also in store. To survive and succeed in the competitive environment, it becomes necessary to adjust the command and perspective towards new skills. Mangers need to have an access of global view towards supply and demand; serve its customers anywhere and at any point of time and also move in into new markets (Oracle, 2009). Leader and leadership styles tend to play a vital role in the success of the organisation. An effective leader ill know how to get things done in a way which will balance both the needs of the customers and its employees. Thus the major question arises is that what does it take to become leader in the multichannel organisations. It can be said that the specific set of experience long with required skills which a multichannel retailer usually requires tend to vary greatly depending on the organisational model, strategy, culture, function along with the sophisticated operations, the leaders should possess what is refer to as “multichannel mindset”. A leader must attuned to the opportunities and possess the skills needs to influence in order to work effectively in the industry. According to Bernard D. Feiwus, the skill set of multichannel leaders are enormous. The leaders should be able to differentiate between web business and stores with regards to activities such as merchandising, promotions, profits as well as financial measurement and also managing inventory and liquidation. The complexity or the pressure increases with impact of catalogs along with the opportunity of cross sell and up sell (SpencerStuart, 2009). In case of Argos which is a multichannel retail and a part of Home Retail Group, the leaders of the organisation, Oliver Stocken the chairman, terry Duddy, the chef executive along with other board of directors works together in delivering proper services and products to its customers as and when required. It is the duty of the leaders to manage the ongoing activities of the organisation and fulfil the demands of the customers by supplying with the right kind of products at the right time. With the current situation the demands need to be met so that the customers are satisfied and are able to gain loyalty towards the brand. The major problem is the change in taste and preference and to match up the customers preference retailers should know what the customers desires for along with an effective and innovative supply chain system. The major challenge however lies not only in the field of technology but the real challenge is cultural, i.e. to get the business start thinking in multi channel way and thus integrate processes as well as information to benefit the customers and retailers as well (IBM, 2007). In addition multichannel retail also faces the challenge of security risk as it might receive sensitive customer’s data through online which can provide advantage to the hackers. Fraud risk is another challenges faced by the multichannel retail. However the multichannel retail has been improvising on the demands and supply chain so to create a competitive advantage over its competitors. With the help of the models such as McKinsey 7’S’ and Burke Litwin model of organisational change options for improving the current situation are reflected below, 6.1 McKinseys 7’S’ The framework of McKinseys 7S was developed by Tom Peter ad Robert Waterman through which organisation is guided to improve on the performance. The 7Smodel tends to help the organisations to bring in people together an achieve goals of the organisation. The 7S consist of Strategy, structure, system, staff, style, shared vision and skills (Bhattacharyya, 2011, p. 333). Figure 1: McKinsey Framework Strategy: The strategy adopted by Argos was that of multichannel retailing strategy and it was a great success for the firm and the organisation as a whole. The customers were offered different types of outlets to experience shopping. With the introduction of e-channels the customers were able to browse the offers in the given catalogue or at the stores. But with the introduction of new technology customers are able to browse through mobile phones or any device at any point of time induced Argos to make an early entry into the online retailing sectors (Watch, 2004). With more advanced technology, Argos will be able to handle the customer demand more effectively. Argos can adopt along with the multichannel retailing strategy a low cost differentiation strategy to capture the majority of the market share in UK. Structure: The organisational structure is vital and crucial to the normal working of the business. Argos being a multichannel retail, flow of information should be accurate with proper communications. Argos is a part of Home Retail group and the structure seems to be good enough and the members or the leaders are taking into consideration all the necessary requirements for the company to flourish and achieve the top position in UK. In addition Argos being a big multichannel retail, increased investment in supply chain along with acquisition of products will result in better working conditions and stable position in the market. System: The supply chain of Argos was quite effective but with increase level of competition the management decided to upgrade its supply chain with more innovations to suit the customer’s preference and demands and reduce the risk of fraud and security. With time information has become much more important than stocks and thus with the help of merchandising experience as well as skills Argos will be able to set accurate price and also promote the products to its customers according to needs and demographics. Therefore core IT capabilities should be weaved into the process of supply chain s that decisions can be made accurately and quickly (IBM, 2007, p.13). Staff: to overcome the problem of meeting the customer demand and giving importance to the customers who arrives at the store, Argos should hire staff with sufficient knowledge about moving the products off the stores to satisfying the customers. Shared vision: The shared vision of Argos should be common for all the people working for Argos irrespective of online sector or brick by mortar retail outlet. They should serve to satisfy the demands of the people. Style: The management style that would suit the current situation of keeping the customer happy along with an effective supply chain, the management should work together and follow the participative leadership styles so that issues can be solved and transform the culture, technology and operation. Skill: People employed in retail outlets should have skills to communicate properly with its customers and able to understand their needs. People working in the back office should have proper understanding about the work and technology which is important for the working of the organisation. Argos skill set criteria should be based on strong management abilities, recruiting some of the key talents for larger functional role in the organisation and setting the infrastructure to deal with more complex operations in future. 6.2 Burke Litwin model of organizational change The Burke-Litwin Model can also be used to analyse the situations of the organisations. Figure 2: Burke Litwin Model The top half of the model is referred to as transformational factors which comprises of environment, mission and strategy, leadership along with organisational culture. Changes in these factors are often caused by external environment. Therefore to bring about changes in these factors are not easy because of the factors tends to challenges the core believes and the assumptions with regards to the organisation and the work that the firm should be doing. Similar is the case with Argos multichannel retail, changes in organisational culture, leadership styles and along with the current strategy are difficult to make as they have been in circulation since years and the management has engrossed themselves with the current mission, culture of the organisation. The remaining variables in the model are identified as transactional factors as they are directly related with the current activities of the organisations. Changes can also take place without triggering the transformational factors in the Burke Litwin Model. Argos should engage themselves into transformational change in order to rate themselves from ‘good’ to ‘great’ just by aligning the internal processes and system with the customers. Transformational factors also refer to alternation of the situation to meet the customers demand with the help of latest technology and effective supply chain. This model enriches the conceptual map of the organisation and the complex set of variables associated with the model helps to explain the dynamics of the organisations. The model separates the elements into two variables, transactional and transformational which help to examine the impact of change in these variables (Cawsey et.al, 2011, p. 92-93). Argos multichannel retail with the above said models will be able to analyse the impact of change and bring about change needed in the organisation for future prospect and to create about a competitive advantage in the retail industry. In conclusion, with McKinsey’s 7S and Burke Litwin Model, tools that would helps Argos multichannel retail to develop models according to the analysis and is often regarded as an important analytical tool used by organisations to solve issues. The tool can help Argos to bring about a change in the organisation leading to better future prospects and overcoming its weakness and threats and concentrate on the future opportunities. 7. Conclusion Multichannel retailing has allowed organisation to expand into different and new areas, retailers also outsource its business functions like web hosting, processing of credit cards and shipping. Relationship with the third part vendors tends to provide a viable means for retailers in order t grow their business cost effectively and mange the resources. Therefore it can be said that use of multiple channels tends to create significant opportunity for the retailers to increase revenue and target as well as interact with the customers. Retailers which survive the challenges and prosper are those which adapt to the dynamic demands of multichannel and deals effectively with issues. Argos multichannel retail with its productive and effective supply chain will be able to achieve the core competency in the field of multichannel retailing and able to gain the topmost position and further add to its list of strength and by utilising the opportunities, Argos will produce effective financial result and with recruiting the right skills, Argos will be able to prioritise the necessary skills as well as competencies based on the vision, capabilities and strategies of the organisation. Therefore set of recommendation has been provided to deal with the changing environment. 8. Recommendation To succeed in the competitive environment retailers should be able to adjust them accordingly to the needs and requirements of the current situation. The biggest challenge is to recognise the fact that multichannel retailing is just not ‘plug-in-fix’ only but like technology, customer preference, channel options are changing constantly therefore the elements of multichannel retail strategy should remain flexible Therefore the recommendation set for Argos multichannel are as follows, Efficient Supply Chain Management: Argos with the help of Oracle’s retail merchandising system can rise its goods-in by and help the suppliers to adhere the guidelines before delivering its products to the organisation. With growing competition retailers both national and international are embracing innovations into supply chain in order to take advantage of the strategic opportunities, reduce the cost of operation. Therefore it is recommended that Argos should rebuild its supply chain so that in the competitive environment the organisation is able to make a mark. Induce a multichannel sales environment: The consumers are conscious about the environment from where the purchase the products. They want freedom towards purchasing products in various ways, including store to web. Therefore it is suggested to maintain an integrated multichannel sales environment through which products would be offered to the customers at any point of time and anywhere. Integration can help to create new purchasing options for the customers and most importantly, Argos e-commerce should be linked closely with the supply chain system. Finally in order to grow profit in the competitive environment, retailers cannot rely on its traditional strategy, location. Argos must ensure that the product assortments are modified according to the taste of the local customers and capture the new market opportunities. Reference Argos, 2011. About Us. [Online]. Available at: [Accessed 18 July 2012]. Argos-a, 2011. Annual Report 2011. [Online]. Available at: [Accessed 18 July 2012]. 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